The Legend of Zelda: Daughter of Twilight
by From Beyond The Stars
Summary: Forest Legacy Series, sequel to Daughter of Time. Ariadne, the new barmaid at Telma's, finds herself fighting for her life, for Hyrule and for the Twilight Realm when she discovers she owns the Mirror of Twilight; and she is the key to activating it.
1. Prologue

_**prologue**_

_**thirteen years ago**_

A small child of four, brown hair tumbling over her shoulders, her amber eyes glistening, ran across her mother's room in a secluded home outside of Castle Town. She was intrigued by the ornate mirror lying on her mother's bedside table, and now that her mother was busy in the kitchen, it would be hers. Stumbling across the room smiling, she reached out and grabbed the mirror, studying it; as she touched it, glowing symbols, circles, and most notably, three triangles, arced throughout the small hand mirror's surface. She had to show her mother this; why had she been not allowed to touch something so fun and exciting? Squealing with delight and smiling innocently, she waved the glowing mirror through the air and ran into the kitchen, where her mother stood preparing their usual lunch of fish caught from the nearby small creek.

"Ariadne?" came her mother's soft, gentle voice, as the girl ran into the kitchen. "What are you holding?"

"Look! Look at this mirror!" Ariadne said with delight, waving it at her mother. Her mother looked up from the food she was preparing quickly, her knife landing on the table with a clatter. Her beautiful face, skin a mixture of black and whitish blue, her eyes bright yellow with red irises, was a mask of fear; the blue glowing lines etched upon her soft skin glowed brightly with her intense emotion, and just like that, she was gone. She dissolved into black, and the black was sucked into the small mirror Ariadne held.

"Mother?" Ariadne said, looking at the mirror as it's glow died. She saw her mother's reflection briefly, streaked with tears, and it upset her; she dropped the mirror and it cracked and broke, and with a scream she began to cry.


	2. Chapter 1

_**chapter one**_

_**now**_

Ariadne leaned against the shelves behind the bar, looking at the evening's customers. Most were the usual gruff, angry looking men who frequented the bar, but Ariadne noticed in the back was a tall man with strands of brown hair falling in his eyes. She had never seen this man; while normally someone new in the bar meant nothing, something about this one was different, strange somehow. He had a long, black trenchcoat on of some sort, and his hands were gloved in the same material. His green eyes searched his surroundings constantly, analyzing, just as she was. He was sitting in the very back of the bar, as if not wanting to be noticed.

Ariadne was interrupted from her musing when she saw a man stumble through the bar's door and slump onto the bar in front of her. He pushed himself up and leaned forward towards Ariadne, proceeding to grab her shirt and pull her in close to his face.

"Drink," he said, his voice slurring. Ariadne grimaced and punched him in the face, knocking him back slightly. A look of half-confused anger came upon the man's face and he lunged for her, attempting to punch her; however, he missed, and only managed to shatter a few bottles of ale. The man was twice her size; Ariadne knew that even she, decent when it came to combat, could not take him down herself. She dodged another of his badly aimed punches at looked out into the bar; most of its customers were so drunk they only laughed, however, the man in the black coat stood up and strode toward the front of the bar. He came up behind the man and put his arm around his throat. He then flung the man towards the floor and put a foot on his back to stop him from getting up and waited a moment. He then grabbed the man's shirt and dragged him out through the bar's door, face down. A moment later he reappeared and Ariadne eyed him, half awed, half scared.

"Th-thank you," she stuttered, looking him in the eye. The man nodded curtly and returned to his spot in the back of the bar. Ariadne noted that he had no drink, and was sitting alone with simply a small bag. She saw him take a book from it and start to read.

Xander was surprised by what he did; he had been told not to make contact with the girl, and he never disobeyed orders. However, he told himself, attempting to justify his behaviours, this was different. She had been attacked by a drunk, and could have been damaged. He would want her alive, wouldn't he? He studied the girl carefully. She was tall, and had pale skin and stunning amber eyes; she wore a tan dress and a white long sleeved shirt. Her brown hair was falling in her eyes, and was tied into a long ponytail in the back. Xander didn't know whether she was a full-time barmaid or doing work for someone she knew; he certainly thought she looked too young to manage the place herself. He guessed she was somewhere between fifteen and seventeen. He saw her grab a rag and clean the mess that the drunk man had made, and then stand up and reach for a bottle behind her. She picked up a glass and poured some of the bottle's contents into it. She then came out from behind the bar and brought the drink –just as he had feared– to his small, lonely table in the back.

"As thanks," she said awkwardly and set the drink down on the table. Xander winced. He knew he had ruined the job now, making direct contact with the girl.

"Thanks," he said quietly and sipped from the drink, waiting for her to go. She bit her lip and then walked back to the front of the bar.

Ariadne watched the man sip from the drink, and saw he was almost shaking. She hoped she hadn't done something wrong by giving it to him; however, just as she wondered this, the man stood up and walked out of the bar, grabbing his bag and leaving the half-empty glass on the table. Ariadne stood, feeling guilty for scaring off the man, and walked to the back of the bar. She grabbed the glass and brought it to the front, setting it on the counter. She pondered the strange man for a moment before her thoughts were interrupted by a crash from outside. Grimacing, she ran out the bar's door to see what was happening.

Outside was a monstrous creature the size of a full grown man -maybe larger- and it looked angry. It was the scariest thing Ariadne had ever seen- a large, humanoid beast with spidery fingers and markings etched all along its body; however, it's head was a large disk-shaped atrocity with odd black tendrils extending from the back, almost like hair. It was thrashing wildly around the small alleyway the bar was situated in, knocking into the building and wrecking a few crates that had been lying there for ages. Oddly, Ariadne noted that the skin of the strange creature looked almost identical to the coat the man in the bar had been wearing… _Maybe I'm just being paranoid_, she thought but couldn't suppress the thought that there was something odd about the connection. As if to confirm her fears, as the creature saw her and started to charge her, the odd markings in its skin began to glow- _the same startling shade of green that the man's eyes had been_. This man must have been some kind of monster in disguise, and she had startled it into its true form. Ariadne screamed. She clenched her fists, preparing to fight it with her hands; however, just before the thing attacked her, it stopped and stood. Ariadne threw a punch at it and when she did, when her flesh connected with its odd, disk-shaped mask, the thing calmed. Startled, Ariadne stepped back a fraction and then felt something shaking in the satchel at her side. She opened it and saw the small, cracked and broken mirror that had apparently been her great-grandfathers shivering oddly. The outside was ornately carved from grey-blue stone and the mirror itself was shattered, but it somehow held itself together. She held it up and looked at her reflection in it despite the situation; she then let out a little gasp as she noticed in the mirror, her irises were red. She whipped around and looked in the window of the bar's door. Her eyes were their normal amber. Then she felt an almost magnetic pull toward the beast standing behind her and the mirror she held glowed bright red—with a flash of light the black and green beast was gone. She was scared now, but determined to overcome her fear, she stuffed the mirror back in her satchel and walked back into the bar.

Not ten minutes later, the man in the black coat from before entered the bar again, looking afraid. Ariadne, who had been standing in the shadows behind the counter, afraid, looked up and called out to him.

Xander looked at the girl confusedly. She looked angry; he wondered what had happened in his absence. As he studied her over carefully he noticed her left eye, covered in a shadow, had a bright red iris. Before he could remark about this she stepped out of the shadows, walked up to him, and slammed his face with her fist.

"You can get out," she growled. "I know what you are. Leave." Xander was confused but quickly backed away and ran out of the bar.

Relieved that the half-monster scumbag had left the premises, Ariadne closed the bar early. The few customers remaining left quietly and without arguing, and after Ariadne cleaned up, she left, too.

Ariadne walked out into the alleyway, then up a small set of stairs, downwards, and around two corners, until she reached the street she lived on. While there was a small danger of being attacked (or worse) by night, Ariadne was confident she could defend herself if such an occasion occurred; and so she quickly walked down the street and turned toward the side where the very small, shacklike house she lived in was placed. Pulling a small, heavy key from her satchel, she unlocked the door and entered.

Her house was very small, but it was all she could afford. It was two rooms—one with a bed, a desk, and on it, her possessions, and the other was a storage room. Though she didn't use it, she didn't complain about having extra room; it could come in handy later, she thought. She set her satchel down on the desk, cluttered with old objects and papers, and collapsed into her bed. She was asleep almost instantly.

Xander returned to the dwelling of his master immediately and informed him of the…issues. Xander knew he was a dead man as soon as he saw the angered look on his master's face.

"You _spoke_ with her?"

"It could not be avoided. You said you wanted her alive."

"It could have been avoided. You could have left."

"That did not occur to me. I apologize." Xander felt a searing pain in his left cheek; he hadn't seen his master raise his small knife in the pitch blackness of the room. Xander had only seen his master outside of the room once; he had very dark, almost black skin, and long orange hair. There were odd markings all over his face and he wore a scratched, torn, and heavy dark brown coat with a hood. Xander knew he had many weapons concealed in the coat's inner pockets and was not surprised in the least that he had been punished.

"Some good did come of your failure, though," the deep rumbling voice of his master said. "We know now for sure what she is. And she has the mirror. You must retrieve it…or I will." His master then advanced on him.

Xander gingerly felt the bruises on his arms and face and winced as he touched the cut from his master's knife. He was walking home- a small house on the outskirts of castle town, paid for only because of the very high wages he earned for working for his deadly and dangerous master. He didn't know why he had picked this job, really; it was all odd, dodgy tasks assigned to him seemingly at random, though Xander was starting to notice a connection. All of his jobs were related, it seemed, to objects of high amounts of power. Last time it had been the legendary Tear of Din; it had been hard to track down the valuable gem, very difficult; but he was rewarded handsomely- his master had let him keep the rare gem for some reason. He had seemed unsatisfied when presented with it. And now he wanted Xander to secure the "Mirror of Twilight"; it apparently was a portal to the Twilight Realm, an alternate dimension sealed in eternal dusk. Apparently this girl had it. His master had been informed that the girl was carrying an odd, very valuable looking mirror, and upon further examination it was revealed to be the legendary mirror. Xander had no idea how he was going to gain the girl's trust again, but he would, somehow…

Ariadne woke up a few short hours later, her body aching from low quality sleep. She constantly had odd nightmares about a place with the sky a mixture of black, purple, and bloodred; tall, shapeless beings prowled among dark stone buildings, their red eyes glaring out cruelly at her. Why this nightmare persisted she didn't know, but it frequently scared her so much she woke up. She got up and walked to her desk and looked at her gathered things. She only had one picture of her mother and it was blurred- a pale yet also dark skinned woman with bright eyes. Other than that she had only drawings she made of the odd dreams she had and a small black statuette of a mask with what seemed like two horns made out of black marble. It had apparently been her parents', the only thing she had of theirs aside from the mirror she inherited. She had never been told why her parents disappeared; she was very young, and when they did, she was moved to a foster home in Kakariko Village. However, four years ago, at age 13, she left the village for Castle Town, where she made a living by doing small chores for local shops and the like. Just a year ago she was employed by Telma as a barmaid, her highest paying job yet. The past week Telma had gone on holiday in Ordon Village where she was visiting a friend who had recently given birth to a baby boy. Managing the bar was easy- Telma had given her permission to close it earlier, and was instructed generously to take all the money she earned for herself. However, not wanting to be greedy, she left some of the money for Telma despite her orders. There was a picture taken before the holiday of Ariadne and Telma folded on her desk; she picked it up and looked at it. Telma was almost like a foster mother to her. Though she didn't really admit it to herself, she was very looking forward to Telma's returning, just so she had someone to talk to. Taking the picture in her hand she climbed back into her bed, and however slowly, fell asleep.

Xander stood at the door to his house and kicked in the door with pent up frustration from his previous failure. This life was not what he had asked for when he ran away…He wanted a new, better life, free from any bonds of authority figures, living on his own skill. When he was young in Ordon Village he read all about survival in the wild; however, when he ran away at the age of 15, he learned that knowledge from books was not all there was to it. Almost immediately after he wished he was back home, sitting under the trees, watching that beautiful blonde girl and reading his book. He couldn't remember now what her name was; she always fascinated him, being tough and strong, as opposed to the other girls, all weak and trained for cooking. It was something like "knave"… Feeling as though he'd never sleep, Xander walked through the small kitchen-style room in the front of his home to the only other room, his own combination of a living room and bedroom, and threw off his coat. He then slumped down on his bed, wracking his brain about solutions to his dilemma; thinking of nothing decent after an hour he drifted off into sleep.


	3. Chapter 2

_**chapter two**_

Ariadne slung her satchel over her shoulder and walked the short distance back to the bar, unlocking it with the key Telma had given her. No one ever came in the morning; Telma didn't even open the place till midafternoon, normally; but better, she thought, to get an early start. The walk home had been odd; she had the most peculiar sensation of being watched, but she looked in every direction constantly and saw no one.

Inside the bar was exactly as she had left it the previous night; Ariadne didn't know why she expected otherwise, but she was relieved. Then, just as she set her satchel down on the front bar, a knock came from the door. Immediately on guard, Ariadne walked to the front and opened it. For some reason she was completely unsurprised that the man standing outside the bar was the same that she had met earlier. The one who could transform into the beast and go inside the mirror…

"Get out." Ariadne gritted her teeth.

"My name is Xander," the man blurted out. Ariadne couldn't see how this was relevant and frowned.

"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked, putting her hand on her side and glaring.

"It…it doesn't…" he said, looking at his feet.

"Look, I'm not letting you in here anymore now that I know what you are. You wish. Telling me your name can't change that."

"What do you mean, 'you know what I am'?"

"I saw you last night," Ariadne hissed. "The big black thing with the green markings." Xander looked at her flatly for a moment.

"I am not a Shadow Beast."

"A…what?"

"A Shadow Beast."

"What's…"

"They're corrupted creatures that come from the Twilight Realm."

Xander had said it before he could stop himself. He knew he shouldn't have and he would pay dearly- but for the first time in his career, his first thought was simply _What he doesn't know won't hurt him. And if it does, that's all for the better. _He was sick of the abuse and after this job he was going to get work somewhere else.

"The…Twilight Realm?" The girl asked cautiously.

"The Twilight Realm of legend. An alternate dimension in which resides a race of shadows."

"And these…Shadow Beasts…come from there?"

"They are used as guards and are created when true evil energy scars a Twili."

"The Twili are the shadow-race, then."

"Yes."

"And…you're not…one of them."

"No."

"You should come in," the girl said after a moment. She stepped out of the doorway and Xander stepped inside and sat at the bar. The girl closed the door and locked it and then walked behind the bar, pouring two drinks.

"What's your name?" Xander asked a bit cautiously.

"Ariadne," she said shortly.

"That's…a nice name," Xander said awkwardly. Ariadne raised her eyebrows.

"What were you doing yesterday? Helping me and staring at me like that?" she asked. Xander studied her. Strands of dark hair fell in her eyes, those beautiful eyes…Her skin was so perfect…Xander shook his head. This wasn't the place.

"I was…Well, I couldn't let you get hurt…"

"Why were you staring at me?"

"I wasn't staring at you. I was researching something and needed quiet," Xander lied. "That's…that's why I was in the back."

"Okay, then…" Ariadne said, sighing. "Why are you back here?"

"I was coming to apologize for being so rude yesterday."

"Apology accepted, then." They sat in silence for a moment, Xander occasionally sipping from his drink.

"So…" Xander started. "Do you…do you want help, uh, setting up the bar?" Ariadne looked at him curiously.

"Sure," she said. "There's not much to do…" Ariadne looked around the room and Xander saw her eyes resting on something on the wall. He turned his gaze on it and saw it was a photo. In the photo was the well-known barmaid Telma, and next to her…it couldn't be…next to her was a beautiful blonde girl, her eyes blue as the sky and her chest slightly round. It was her, the girl from the village…The girl who he had always liked…

"Do you know who that is?" Xander asked.

"No. She's a friend of Telma's. All I know is she's recently had a child."

"I met her," Xander said quietly.

"Y-you did?" Ariadne responded, looking startled.

"I grew up in Ordon Village…" Xander looked at Ariadne and sighed. "I ran away when I was 15." He didn't know why he was telling her about his life. He hadn't had anyone to talk to in four years, since they day he ran away, and he appreciated it.

"Why did you run away?"

"I ran because my parents are horrible."

"What did they do?"

"In general, they ignored me to the point that I was usually sitting in the outskirts of the village reading a book the entirety of the day, sometimes even fell asleep and slept there, and they didn't notice. Well, maybe they did, but even so, they definitely didn't care."

"My mother disappeared when I was four," Ariadne said quietly, looking down.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't be, I barely knew her anyway."

"That's no reason not to care, though, is it?" Ariadne was silent for a few minutes and nodded.

"I never knew my father. I have no idea what happened to him." Xander didn't know how to respond, and so he was silent. He was thinking more and more about the blonde girl.

"That girl…I used to watch her from under the trees. I sat with my books and read and read, and whenever I wasn't reading, I was watching her…she was always being dogged by an egotistical bastard called Colin."

"Colin."

"Yeah, him."

"Did she…and him…?"

"It seemed to me like she would have given anything to get away from him, but what do I know?"

"It would appear you know a lot." Xander laughed a little despite himself.

"I do, yes." They were silent for a few moments and Xander continued looking over Ariadne and studying her. She often fiddled with her hair, changing where the long ponytail was or wrapping strands of it around her finger. She was wearing today a blouse and a long dress. Xander couldn't help but notice how low the neckline of the blouse went, and immediately scolded himself at his thoughts. This was a job. Not a chat between friends. He needed to get the mirror. She was so beautiful… He continued eyeing her but then he saw the small mirror poking out of the satchel at her side. However, knowing it would blow his one chance to try and take it now (or so he told himself) he did nothing. After a while, Ariadne finally spoke up.

"I'm about to open the bar, and I know you offered to help, but I'd really better do it myself."

"Yes…I'll have to be getting home…anyway."

"…I'll see you around, I suppose?"

"Yes. Maybe I'll come back later…or…something. Thank you for the drink."

"You're welcome." Ariadne unlocked the door and Xander stepped out into the alley.

Xander quickly walked through the town, pushing past people in the bustling streets and making his way to a certain out-of-the-way alley in the far south. Finally, cutting behind a large building, he reached it, and saw a large hole in the ground, almost invisible due to the overgrown vegetation surrounding it. He lowered himself in and grabbed onto a ladder, and was soon standing on a stone platform on the side of a small river underground; he was in the sewers of Castle Town, which were dotted with cells, because they had once been used as dungeons. He cut his way through them quickly enough, reaching a certain area filled with the cells, and then found the particular thing he was looking for- a large stone door with a burning fire behind it. He pushed his way inside and looked around.

He had never seen his master's lair fully illuminated. It was cluttered and made completely of stone. In one corner was a few large piles of hay which Xander assumed served as a bed, and the rest of the large room was filled with broken objects, weaponry, and a table filled with parchment. Most of it was maps, jotted notes, and drawings. His master, Saul, sat at the desk studying over all of the papers scattered throughout it.

"You're back," he said in his gruff voice, turning around. "Where is the mirror." His hair was roughly cut and almost to his shoulders and his skin was dark bluish black, just as Xander had remembered. He was huge and powerful and odd tan-gold markings were set in his forearms.

"I…don't have the mirror." A look of anger broke out on Saul's face and he lunged for Xander. Xander quickly dodged out of the way.

"I will not fail you!" he shouted to Saul, now across the room. "I have gained her trust. Give me more time and I will have the mirror."

"You are a failure, Xander. I don't know what I expected from Hylian scum. I will get the mirror myself."

"Don't hurt her," Xander said, surprising himself. Saul laughed cruelly.

"I'll hurt her if it is what I please."

"I said give me more time," Xander said angrily.

"I only have so much time, Hylian," Saul said. "Do not fail me. Get out of my sight now before I change my mind about getting that mirror myself."

The day at the bar was another normal one for Ariadne; part of her almost hoped to see Xander again, but she did not. She closed the bar on time, collected her money, and left some for Telma before leaving. She quickly walked back home and unlocked the door, and then heard a noise behind her. Whipping around, afraid, she was relieved only to see Xander.

"I followed you here," Xander said quietly. "I…need to tell you something."

"Come in, then," Ariadne stepped inside the house and Xander followed. She sat on the edge of her bed and looked at him.

"Well?" she asked.

"The mirror that you have. It's…I was…" His voice started fading and the world was going dark. Ariadne shook her head and regained clarity.

"I need the mirror," Xander said in a deep but calm voice that was not his own. "I have come to take the mirror."

"Why?" Ariadne asked, afraid. Xander was changing. He was very very tall now, and had no cloak. His skin was white but had black blended in; it was an equal pattern of shadow and light. Ariadne found this familiar somehow, but couldn't remember from where she had seen it; she was too afraid. She backed into her bed and screamed. Xander's eyes were now glowing red and he reached into her satchel, which she had left on her desk, and pulled out the mirror. Gracefully, he tossed it to her, and spoke again.

"Touch it," he said, with a voice like three combined. "Use the Mirror of Twilight." Fearful for her own life and cursing herself for falling for the trap of a demon, she snatched the mirror and touched its surface. A flicker of memory came back to her, of doing the same thing to the mirror so long ago, when it was whole…whole like it was now. As she touched the surface, glowing circles of light spun in circles on it and in the center were three triangles, arranged almost as if to be a larger triangle, but with a hole in the center- the symbol of the Triforce. The mirror's glowing brands spiraled out into the air, illuminating the dark room and the large shadow creature's skin, showing dull blue markings etched upon his skin. Then she was turning to nothingness and going inside the mirror…Inside…And then she was there again, the huge circular expanse of stone with odd markings in the bottom, and the sky was bloodred, purple, and black; there were more of the shadow creatures, both short and stout and lean and tall, all around her now, and they were converging on her… she was going to die…they were coming closer, surrounding her…

Ariadne woke to Xander's hand on her shoulder, looking pale.

"What are you screaming about?" he asked carefully. "You dropped off and then screamed and started pushing me back…"

"I-I had a nightmare," Ariadne said, feeling sick, and explained to him everything she heard. "…but it wasn't right, was it?" she asked. "You're not here to take the mirror…"

"…I am. I have been ordered to." Ariadne was silent. "I don't want to."

"You can't have it," she said quietly. "It belonged to my mother."

"I have no intention of taking the Mirror of Twilight."

"It really is called that?"

"Yes."

"What does it do?"

"It transports the user to the Twilight Realm, of course."

"It's…real?" Ariadne asked in a whisper.

"Yes, and it's where he wants to go."

"Who?"

"My…master."

"What will happen if he gets the Mirror?"

"He will go to the Twilight Realm and attempt to conquer it with his own brand of magic."

"That would be bad."

"You are correct."

"Why are you telling me this, Xander?"

"I…" he paused. Then he started leaning down as if to kiss her, but Ariadne winced and pushed him away.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "But I just met you." Xander blushed.

"I…yes…don't know what got into me," he muttered. Xander backed off of the bed and sat at the chair in front of Ariadne's desk.

"You should go," Xander said suddenly.

"Go where?" Ariadne asked, startled.

"The Twilight Realm. You know how to work the Mirror now."

"I…" Ariadne started. "It'll be dangerous."

"You'll be fine, I'm sure. The Goddesses must have sent you that dream for a reason."

"What do the Goddesses have to do with this?"  
"That was no normal dream, Ariadne…It told you how to work the Mirror and what it was. It told you what I was going to do."

"That..makes sense…" Ariadne said. She stood up and took the few photos she had off her desk and stuffed them into her satchel. She had a feeling she would need the small black marble statuette and put that in, too, and slung it around her shoulder. She then took the Mirror out and fingered the handle.

"I guess…I'll give it a shot," she said. "If I don't come back soon explain the situation to Telma when she comes back. And…give her my regards." Ariadne was afraid she'd never see Telma again, but couldn't dwell on that now. Xander was right—the Goddesses must have sent the dream to tell her what she had to do. She was quickly learning that her life was obviously not normal. Ariadne drew in a breath and nodded to Xander.

"…Thank you," she said quickly, and pressed her hand against the shattered Mirror, willing it with all of her being to reform and bring her to the Realm. As if the Goddesses were indeed watching her, the Mirror glowed and merged together. Just like in the dream, circles of light spiraled out of the Mirror and around her. With a last wave to Xander, the light swallowed her up whole and she was gone.

Xander knocked on the bar door, curious to see it Telma had indeed returned. He had just seen someone walk inside, and who else would have a key? The door opened.


End file.
